HORSECAM03_078_cs.jpg Event on 4/2/07 in Petaluma.
Ransom (cq), a two-day-old colt, totters about on unsteady legs with his mother, Suerte, close at his side. Suerte (cq), a 21-year-old chestnut Trakehner mare gave birth to Ransom, her seventh foal and first colt, Saturday night under the watchful eye of a webcam and an international audience. Owner Genevieve Ghilotti (cq) at Glenhill Farm in West Petaluma has been besieged with phone calls and emails from people watching the expectant mother on the web. The mare has been highly protective of her offspring, aggressively keeping visitors and other horses at a distance. "Maybe it's hormonal," posited Ghilotti. Photographed April 02, 2007. Chris Stewart / The Chronicle Genevieve Ghilotti, Suerte, Ransom MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/NO SALES-MAGS OUT less

HORSECAM03_078_cs.jpg Event on 4/2/07 in Petaluma.
Ransom (cq), a two-day-old colt, totters about on unsteady legs with his mother, Suerte, close at his side. Suerte (cq), a 21-year-old chestnut Trakehner mare ... more

Photo: Chris Stewart

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horse _004_cs.jpg Event on 3/28/07 in Petaluma.
Genevieve Ghilotti (cq) holds up signs sent to her from a horse fan in Wisconsin. Her horse Suerte (cq - background), a 21-year-old chestnut Trakehner mare, is expecting her seventh foal, now three weeks past due. The first six were unremarkable births, but the birth of lucky number seven is being watched 24/7 by a webcam installed in Suerte's stall by Ghilotti, her owner and horse breeder at Glenhill Farm in West Petaluma. Ghilotti was asked by the horse fan to hold up the correct sign at the time of birth. The internet site has drawn visitors from around the world, some of whom call to check on Suerte�s progress. Suerte�s webcam can be viewed at www.marestare.com. Photographed March 28, 2007. Chris Stewart / The Chronicle Suerte, Genevieve Ghilotti, Kristina Swisher MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SF CHRONICLE/NO SALES-MAGS OUT less

horse _004_cs.jpg Event on 3/28/07 in Petaluma.
Genevieve Ghilotti (cq) holds up signs sent to her from a horse fan in Wisconsin. Her horse Suerte (cq - background), a 21-year-old chestnut Trakehner mare, is ... more

Photo: Chris Stewart

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PETALUMA / At long last, a Web star is born -- thousands watch his arrival / Webcam of pregnant horse riveted viewers, all hoping to see the big moment live

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The chestnut-haired starlet who wowed the world over the past month sashayed outside her Petaluma home for the first time Monday after giving birth live on Webcam in front of thousands of viewers.

Only about 15 people were there to see the new mother and her baby, but she didn't seem to care. For one, she is a horse, and two, she was distracted by her little black colt.

Suerte, a 21-year-old former competitive jumper known as a trakehner, gave birth Saturday night as tens of thousands of people worldwide watched on streaming minicam. It was a remarkable event mainly because there was essentially nothing about the horse to explain the level of interest in her pregnancy other than the fact that she was way overdue.

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"I'm thrilled that it turned out so well," said Genevieve Ghilotti, who owns Suerte. "It's a beautiful colt."

Suerte's pregnancy put Glenhill Farm, Ghilotti's horse breeding outfit in Petaluma, on the map. She said the counter on her Web site carrying the live feed stopped working at 10,000 viewers between 7:05 p.m. Saturday, when Suerte's water broke, and 7:30 p.m., when she foaled. Several other popular horse breeding Web sites were also carrying the feed.

Afterward, Ghilotti held up to the camera a baby blue sign with the word "colt" printed on it. She named the colt "Ransom," because, she said, he held Internet viewers hostage by holding out so long.

Ransom was born after 372 days of gestation. The typical gestation period is 340 days, While everybody waited, a Suerte subculture emerged.

Web sites and blogs began popping up and a radio station in Sonoma County held a name-that-foal contest. Ghilotti said she received phone calls from virtually every state and from Germany, England and Canada. The proprietors of a site known as Africam, which has a live camera set up at a watering hole in Africa, even called.

The obsession with the chestnut mare got so out of hand that Ghilotti's telephone would ring off the hook whenever Suerte lay down in her stall.

Ghilotti, who received a flower arrangement and a basket of carrots and apples from Suerte fans Monday, admitted she was hoping for a filly. A female could be raised as a brood mare, whereas most colts are lucky if they avoid gelding surgery.

Ransom will be sold at around six months and then he will go through trials to determine if he is good enough stock to become a stallion.

"If he plays his cards right, then he'll be able to stay intact," Ghilotti said, illustrating the frightening reality of life as a male show jumping horse.

Even if Ransom proves he is man enough for the task, he will never taste the forbidden fruit, Ghilotti said. All pregnancies in this business are achieved through artificial insemination.